A New Friend

Let me introduce you to our family's newest addition, Oswald.  My husband and I had been discussing getting a dog and we finally just broke down and did it.  He is a rescue dog that we got from the shelter and let me tell you, he is a very good dog.

It hasn't been all smooth sailing since he joined our little family last week.  We've had multiple visits to the vet at the shelter to fix sutures that opened and we've had accidents while trying to house break him.  At first, my daughter wasn't completely sure about him either, but that's changed though.  Overall, it's been more good than anything.

My daughter has really become attached to him so fast.  They follow each other around the house and she already has figured out how to use his toys to play with him.  She also has been helping us train him and has a few commands down.

The people that we have met along the way have been great too.  I am learning that "dog people" are some of the nicest people around.  Everywhere we go people come up to us and tell us what a sweet dog he is and you know what, they're right.  It's amazing how fast he has become a part of our family and a good friend.

Stickers

Yup!  I even had these in my prized collection, pickle scratch n sniff!

When I was in elementary school I LOVED stickers!  So much so that I bought photo albums that I could put my most treasured stickers in, to insure that they were never used.  The purpose of stickers was to enjoy them visually over and over and over again.  Once they were removed from the paper they came on they were essentially worthless.  I think my sticker albums still exist and currently reside at my mom's house.  I'll have to look into that.

My 17 month old daughter has had her own fascination with stickers too, the name tag variety that is.  In fact, she has become a bit of a name tag bandit and has quite the reputation at the nursery at church for taking the name tags of all the other children.  We're working on stopping this.  Stealing, especially at church, is a big no no.

The Best $1 Ever Spent

Since I knew my daughter must have received some sticker genes from me and in an effort to try to curb her enthusiasm for the name tag, I bought her a sticker book today at Walmart.  Nothing fancy.  It's just a book of laminated pages that comes with two pages of stickers that you match to the pictures on the pages.  

The missing peacock sticker goes next to the elephant

Can I just say that was the absolute best $1 I have ever spent on anything for her?  Once we opened up that book and began putting the animal stickers on the pages she was hooked on stickers.  She sat with me for about a half hour just putting the stickers on the pages and then after we finished she went back to see all the animal stickers she just put on the pages.  All day she kept pulling out that book, going through it, and taking the stickers off and putting them on other pages.  

We did have one snafu, her peacock sticker, after having been moved around one too many times, lost it's stickiness and went missing, much to my daughter's dismay.  She was very concerned about the missing peacock and since I know she has a memory like an elephant I know that tomorrow morning we will begin the hunt for the blue peacock sticker once again.  If anyone sees it, let me know please.

A Mother's Prayers

Before my daughter was born I began the practice of praying for her and bathing her in Scripture every morning during my early morning quiet times.  I personalized Psalm 139 for her as I read it aloud to her and upon completion of the reading I would pray that she would grow to know the Lord, love the Lord with all her heart, and desire to serve Him all her days.

My daughter is now 17 months old and I still pray that same prayer for her.  My time in the Word is no longer during the early hours of the morning, but rather when my daughter naps in the afternoon and instead of Psalm 139 now I read the Proverbs to her and for her.

I know that my simple little prayer has power, but I also know there is so much more I need to be praying for my daughter, so I made something to help me stay consistent in my prayers for her.  I made a bookmark that I keep in my Bible, so that I shower her with prayer everyday in 10 specific areas.

These are the main points I pray:

1.  Prayer for Faith
2.  Prayer for Growth
3.  Prayer for Friendships
4.  Prayer for a Future
5.  Prayer for Character
6.  Prayer for Safety
7.  Prayer for Joy and Peace
8.  Prayer for Strength Against Temptation
9.  Prayer for Humility
10.  Prayer for a Heart of Service

I wish that I could say that I came up with these all on my own, but I didn't.  I found them at iMom and they are essentially Scripture.  The bookmark was my idea and it has worked quite well.  What's most important, however, is that I pray.  It truly is the most effective weapon I possess in the fight that is being waged for my daughter's soul.

(If you like to see specifically what the prayers are that I pray let me know and I will post those or mail you.)